Journalist, Author & Detroit-Home Renovator

T-15 Days to Home Sweet Home

That’s right, we’re scheduled to inhabit Matilda starting Dec. 1. It might still be a bit of wishful thinking, but things are moving along quickly.

This morning, we even picked our ceiling color… powdered snow. It sounds so lovely and relaxing. (Not a great representation, but a chip is at the right.)

But, in order to get in, we still need these things to happen:

Doors: Currently, the side door is just wedged in and that’s our main entrance. The other doorways are just barricaded by plywood. I’d much prefer to have actual doors before living in the house full time.

Floors: All the floors have been repaired, but now we have to have them stained and sanded. We thought about skipping this step – time! money!! – but realized that this is the one time in the rest of our lives when this house will be empty. I really don’t want to do floors next year, when I have to move everything again or try to do it room by room. Did that once. No fun. NO FUN. The dust and the mess – and the headache-inducing polyurethane high – are to be avoided if at all possible.

Bathrooms: Right now, we have plumbing, but no where for the water to flow. (Minus a toilet that has to be flushed by bucket in the in the basement.) So before we move in we need at least one working sink and one working toilet. And since the tile guys are there right now, we might even have working showers.

Kitchen: Yeah, there is none. So we need to install all the cabinets and appliances. Though we could just cook on a George Foreman grill outside.

See, not that much. We can totally be in the house in just 15 days. Uh huh.

After that, this is what we still have to do:

Install the rest of the bathroom fixtures (all purchased!)

Install all light fixtures (all purchased!)

Find, buy and install interior doors – all 15

Install washer and dryer

Install closets and shelving

Repair the staircase

Install trim

Paint All The Things

We’ll be posting more before/after photos in the coming days. It’s hard to believe we are almost finished – at least with the main house. (We’re still pretending the porch and garage don’t exist.) We’re still waiting for our next bill, which we know will be cringe-inducing. When we have that, I’ll update the state of the finances for this house.

But as of today, we’ve spent $217,607.92 repairing a house we bought for $35,000. And no, this makes no sense in any fiscal-reality world. We’re aware of that. But, hey, we live in Detroit. This is not known as the land of fiscal reality. (A little bankruptcy humor. Too soon…?)

What it does mean is that we’re here, for good; there is no exit strategy. As the city goes, so do we. And we believe.